Cultural Encounters and Conflict

Essential Question (Aim): How did the distinct cultural beliefs and traditions of Europeans and Native Americans influence their interactions and subsequent conflicts?

Cultural Encounters and Conflict

Learning Targets

• I can analyze the effects of the interactions between Native Americans and Europeans by completing a cultural differences chart.

• I can compare and contrast the cultural traditions of Native Americans and Europeans with a partner.

• I can interpret information from videos and a primary source excerpt to gather details for a graphic organizer.

Domain Vocabulary

• Cultural Diffusion: The spread of cultural beliefs and social activities from one group to another.

• Worldview: A particular philosophy of life or conception of the world.

• Ethnocentrism: The belief in the inherent superiority of one's own ethnic group or culture.

• Assimilation: The process by which a person or a group's language and/or culture come to resemble those of another group.

• Syncretism: The amalgamation or attempted amalgamation of different religions, cultures, or schools of thought.

Do Now (Initiation Task – 5 minutes = 8 - 10 sentences)

What have you been taught about Native vs European people’s cultures?

Activity 1: Cultural Differences Chart

As you watch the videos from John Green’s Crash Course and Khan Academy, fill out the chart below. Pay attention to the different ways that Native Americans and Europeans viewed the world and how these beliefs shaped their societies.

Cultural Trait	Native American Worldviews	European Worldviews
Land
Religion
Social Structure
Trade & Economy

Activity 2: Primary Source Analysis

Read the excerpt from Father Paul LeJeune’s Relation of 1634. Then, with a partner, answer the questions below.

"They have a certain facility in understanding each other... They have no prisons, nor tortures, nor punishments... Hence, they are so obedient to their elders and captains that I have never heard of a rebellious act... The young men who have been brought up among us (French) and have been well disciplined, when they return among them become so utterly corrupted that one can no longer recognize them."

1. What specific cultural beliefs or traditions of the Innu people does LeJeune describe?

2. How does LeJeune’s description of the Innu's social order differ from the European system he is familiar with?

3. Based on this excerpt and your previous knowledge, what might be a key difference between the French approach to Native American relations and the Spanish approach?

Exit Ticket (Summary / Wrap-Up – 5 minutes)

The biggest effect of the cultural differences between Europeans and Native Americans was…